It all began with Patricia Menno-Coveney, who said she "just wanted to give a kidney."

It seemed like a simple decision, she said. The idea of donating a kidney had been on her mind for many years.

But her offer led to a series of transplants that gave four men at Yale-New Haven Hospital the kidneys they needed, each one coming from a woman they had never met.

The chain of transplants — the largest kidney transplant exchange ever in a Connecticut hospital — was announced Thursday afternoon at a press conference with all eight patients and their families, as well as the doctors, nurses and surgical teams who worked on them.

Menno-Coveney, of Mystic, had tried to donate a kidney to a friend, but when he became ineligible for a transplant, she became what the hospital calls "an altruistic donor" — someone just looking to give to a patient in need.

Michael McAndrews

The first in the kidney donation chain, altruistic donor Patricia Menno-Coveney stands at center. She donated a kidney to David Rennie, from left seated. His wife Margaret Rennie donated a kidney to Raymond Murphy, seated third from left. His wife Sylvie Murphy donated a kidney to Mario Garcia, Garcia's wife, Hilary Grant donated a kidney to Edward Brakoniecki, right.

The first in the kidney donation chain, altruistic donor Patricia Menno-Coveney stands at center. She donated a kidney to David Rennie, from left seated. His wife Margaret Rennie donated a kidney to Raymond Murphy, seated third from left. His wife Sylvie Murphy donated a kidney to Mario Garcia, Garcia's wife, Hilary Grant donated a kidney to Edward Brakoniecki, right. (Michael McAndrews)

That patient was David Rennie of Shelton. Rennie's wife, Margaret, had offered to give him one of her kidneys, but was told she was not compatible. Menno-Coveney, however, was.

Margaret Rennie was then found to be a donor match for another hospital patient, Old Saybrook resident Raymond Murphy. Murphy and his wife, Sylvie, were in the same situation as the Rennies — he needed a kidney, but she could not give him one. She was, however, a match for yet another Yale-New Haven patient, Mario Garcia of New Haven, whose wife had also been told she was incompatible and could not donate to her husband.

"It was very confusing," Sylvie Murphy said. "I didn't understand the magnitude of what was happening at the time."

The last link in the chain was Hilary Grant, Garcia's wife, who was found to be a donor match for Edward Brakoniecki, a Stamford man who had spent the last five years waiting on the transplant list.

"It really is a miracle," said Dr. Sanjay Kulkarni, director of the kidney and pancreas transplant program at the hospital. Hospital administrators said it was Kulkarni's idea to perform the chain of transplants after the hospital's computer system discovered the matches.

All of the surgeries took place on March 3, beginning at 7:30 a.m. and ending just before 6 p.m.

On Thursday, nine days after the surgeriesall eight reported feeling healthy and strong.

"Every day I'm stronger and stronger," Brakoniecki said, before offering a special thanks to Grant, his donor.

Dr. Peter Schulam, chief of the hospital's urology department, said that while it is possible to transport donor kidneys to patients in need, the idea is to get the donated organ into the patient "as quickly as possible."

Until now, Schulam said, the hospital has only done kidney tranplant "swaps" involving four patients and two kidneys transplants.

"Every kidney program is trying to do this," he said.

The ability to find and transplant four donor kidneys within one hospital also benefits others waiting on the donor list, Kulkarni said; the hospital has now taken four patients off the list, leaving room for others in need.

All of the donors agreed that the process was, as Sylvie Murphy said, "very rewarding."

As the press conference ended Thursday, several of the patients embraced their doctors and nurses as staff members clapped one other on the back in congratulations.

"It's really a bringing together of communities," Kulkarni said.

Menno-Coveney said she never imagined something like this when she first approached the hospital about donating, but is "delighted" with the result. She called the other seven patients her "new friends."